Six Salad Bar Mistakes That Can Keep You From Losing Weight

You're desperately trying to lose weight so you dutifully make your way to the nearest salad bar at lunchtime. After filling your plate with your favorite salad ingredients as you do each day, you ask yourself why you aren't losing weight. Although salad can be an important part of a healthy diet for promoting weight loss, those salad ingredients can really add up in terms of calories if you don't make your selections wisely. Here are the most common mistakes people make at salad bars that keep them from losing weight:

Choosing pasta based salads.

Most salad bars have a variety of pasta based salads that can wreck havoc with your calorie count and your healthy diet. Many of these salads are flavored with large quantities of mayonnaise which makes them even more calorie unfriendly. Steer clear of these if you're trying to lose weight or count calories.

Eating the cream based soups.

Many salad bars offer a selection of soups along with the salad bar. While soup can be filling and nutritious, cream based soups are too high in calories and fat to be recommended. Choose broth based soups instead of the cream based ones.

Overindulging in salad toppings

Salad toppings such as croutons, sesame noodles, and even nuts can turn a healthy, low calorie salad into a high calorie meal. Although nuts are heart healthy, go for a light sprinkling if you want to limit your calories. Croutons and sesame noodles have limited health benefits and are high in carbohydrates. They're best avoided if you're building a healthy salad.

Not piling on enough raw, fresh vegetables.

Raw vegetables such as romaine lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and raw mushrooms are rich in antioxidants and other healthy biochemicals. They're also essentially free foods in terms of calories and fat. These should make up the majority of your salad composition if you're concerned about following a healthy diet.

Using a high calorie salad dressing

You may have built a perfectly healthy salad. Don't go blow it with a high fat, high calorie salad dressing. Many dressings on salad bars are loaded with fat and sugars making them a diet disaster. Opt for a vinegar based salad dressing. Better yet, bring your own low calorie dressing from home.

Making too many trips back to the salad bar in one visit

Decide beforehand how many plates of salad you'll be eating and stick with it. When a salad bar is unlimited, it's tempting to overindulge. Plan your salad eating strategy before you arrive at the restaurant.

A salad bar can be a healthy way to get a nutritious lunch or dinner without jeopardizing your attempts to lose weight. Avoid making these salad bar mistakes and you can achieve the slim body you've always dreamed of.